Bloggers Quilt Festival - Bed Quilt Entry

This is a quilt you've seen before if you're a regular reader, but it's one of my favorites and so here it is again, being entered in the Bed Quilt Category of the Spring 2013 Bloggers Quilt Festival hosted by Amy's Creative Side.  This quilt is #13 in the Bed Quilt Category.

This toddler/small twin bed quilt was made for my youngest granddaughter last year, when I decided to make bed-size quilts for each of our six grandchildren.  I had purchased the flower fairy panel before she was born, after my son mentioned in passing that if the baby was a girl she would be needing a fairy quilt!

I participated in SewCalGal's FMQ Challenge last year and this quilt provided an opportunity to practice quilting many of the techniques and motifs learned, especially the Diane Gaudynski-style echoed feathers all around the borders.  I had a blast quilting the central panel with all sorts of meandering leaves and flowers, more feathers in the fairy wings, and the scalloped name quilted in the sky section.  The quilt is machine pieced and was quilted on my vintage 1942 Singer 15-91 machine, using Aurifil 50 wt. thread in top and bobbin for the majority of the quilt, and YLI silk 100 for the leaves in the smaller fairy panels.

Quilt Stats:
     Pattern generally follows one issued with Michael Miller's Flower Fairy and Fairy Frost line
     Finished Size is approximately 58 x 75 inches
     Quilt completed 2012

Linking up in the Bed Quilt Category at the Bloggers Quilt Festival.  I hope you'll join the fun and enter your favorite quilts (two entries are allowed this time), and then visit each of the other fabulous entries in this and all of the categories and nominate and vote for your favorites!

Mail Call!

Late in January I learned that my name had been drawn for one of the grand prizes for SewCalGal's 2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge.  Late today the UPS truck came lumbering up the driveway, and lo and behold a box from June Tailor, Inc. containing these goodies was placed in my hands!

The Shape Cut and Twist 'n Stitch rulers look especially intriguing as I've not used a slotted ruler previously.  I just finished watching June Tailor's demo video for the Shape Cut on their website, and this tool looks like it will be extremely useful for a variety of cutting jobs, especially strippy scrappy quilts.  I can see using the continuous line quilting templates especially for some of the baby donation quilts our guild makes each month.  Thanks so much to SewCalGal and to June Tailor for this great prize package!

On the sewing front, I took a break from the Tropical Sunrise quilt to do some freehand FMQ on my current donation quilt.  The FMQ was completed yesterday and now the quilt has been squared and binding attached to the front, with hand stitching the back of the binding to begin later this morning.
Here's what it looked like directly after FMQ before the edges were squared and trimmed.

And the back.  I think the continuous feather border is a bit more visible on this side.

Today it's back to Tropical Sunrise and quilting what seems like hundreds of free motion ferns, and in the evening hand quilting continues on the setting triangles on the Biblical Blocks quilt.

Last, but certainly not least, there are just a few more days left to help support Pam Stahl's efforts to raise funds for the Blood-Water Mission to build a well in an African village that will supply clean pure drinking water to people who have never known that luxury.  Your donation will also give you a chance to win a gorgeous king-size quilt created and hand quilted by Pam!  You can read the story of her Living Water Quilt by clicking on the link in the sidebar to the right.    The drawing takes place on Easter Sunday.    As Pam said in her last blog post, the quilt is just a prop.  But, wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if the winner(s) of the Living Water Quilt allowed it to warm their home for a time and then continued its story by adding another chapter, a new mission and sending it forward to begin again, and then again.   The possibilities are endless, and this intrigues me.   Quilters can dream.

A tiny finish

Not very much has been accomplished this week as I've been under the weather with a head cold.  But I did manage to finish up this little doll quilt yesterday.  The quilt began with the cast-off triangle scraps from the snowball blocks of the Easter baby donation quilt posted in January's NewFOs.

The HST's finishing at one inch were then stitched into pinwheel blocks.  There were enough for 18 little blocks that I decided to arrange into a little strippy style quilt.  After auditioning several sashing/border fabrics, this bright yellow from the scrap bin really begged to jazz things up, and the chocolate brown binding to wrap around everything seemed like just the ticket for this springtime/Easter theme.   It pretty much screams chocolate covered peeps, wouldn't you say?!

Here is the back, from a piece of vintage fabric in my stash.  The quilt was made entirely from small bits and pieces left over from some previous projects and inherited stash.

The quilt finished at 11 x 15-1/2 inches, and was pieced on my Singer 301A.  The Janome Horizon was used to stitch in the ditch around the pinwheel blocks and the simple free motion stitching in the sashing and borders. 

Since being introduced to Aurifil thread during SewCalGal's Free Motion Quilt Challenge last year, I've found myself increasingly using it almost exclusively, especially the 50 weight.  I really like it, and it works beautifully in all my vintage machines that I've tried it thus far, as well as the new Janome.  I even used it for my first machine applique project last month, and it was great.  I've also experimented some with the 40 and 28 weights, and recently heard that the 28 weight is great for hand quilting.  Will be trying it for handquilting my next little project.  (By the way, I have no affiliation with Aurifil other than spending quite a few of my retirement dollars in the last year adding to my thread color stash!)

This little quilt will soon be on its way to our 3 year old granddaughter, so she'll have a little something special while big brother opens his birthday presents later this month.

2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge Retrospective

When I signed on for SewCalGal's 2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge, I was wanting to get outside my comfort zone just a bit, having been a hand quilter for nearly 30 years, albeit intermittently rarely over the previous 10-12 years.  After retirement and getting back to quilting again I quickly realized the years had not treated my hands kindly as arthritis and occasional numbness in my fingertips made hand quilting much more difficult.  So, I decided to teach myself free motion quilting via a couple of books, and then thanks to the magic of the internet Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project and Diane Gaudynski's and Patsy Thompson's blogs showed the possibilities of using a home machine to create beautiful quilting designs. Still, I knew that it would take more than just looking at blogs and books to motivate me to become a better free motion quilter.  I needed a plan, structure, a commitment - and SewCalGal came along at just the right time, with her ingenious idea of this challenge!  I can't thank you enough SewCalGal, for YOUR commitment to make better and happier free motion quilters out of a whole lot of newbies!   I hope the fruits of your brainchild have exceeded your wildest expectations, because it has done just that for us!

I actually managed to complete all twelve monthly challenges as well as 3 of the 4 bonus challenges as of this writing!  You can see a summary of the monthly challenges here. 

It was only because of the FMQ Challenge that I was able to have my most productive quilting year ever!  Motifs and inspiration from the monthly tutorials can be found in nearly all of the 2012 finished quilts summarized here, with the exception of the first one which was completed very early in January.

So, what did I gain from this FMQ Challenge?   Beyond the obvious gift of having access to some of the most talented and creative free motion quilting experts' guidance during our monthly tutorials, it is a new knowledge and confidence that I can, with lots of continuing practice and perseverance, learn this new skill!   I've learned what type of free motion quilting comes naturally to me, and what does not!  I've learned a LOT about fabrics, threads and needles and how they can work with you or against you if you're not careful!   I even learned to leave my comfort zone even further and venture into the addiction world of blogdom! 

Last, but definitely not least, the gift of friendships made through the FMQ Facebook Group hosted by SewCalGal has led to other new blog acquaintances, some of whom were also working on the Challenge.  They in turn have introduced me via their blog links to yet another group of quilty bloggers from across the globe who share their  expertise via blog posts and video tutorials!   A recent illustration:  I first became aware of Rhianon Taylor's gorgeous work and her blog called The Nifty Stitcher early in 2012 through the FMQ Facebook Group.  One of Rhianon's recent posts featured a sampler she created on beautiful pale blue satin quilted with a continuous line feather filler.   She was inspired to create this piece after seeing the blog and video of a quilter named Natasha who lives in Russia and who also creates her quilted masterpieces on a domestic sewing machine.  Rhianon's post included a link to Natasha's blog, and I must say I've watched the videos several times in the past couple of weeks trying to memorize her technique, as well as spending hours admiring her fabulous quilting posted on the blog.  I made my first attempt at replicating Natasha's method for the continuous line feathers on the outer borders of my Bonus Challenge #4 completed yesterday, shown below.

What fun!  No marking, no spine lines unless you really want them, you just start in one corner of your fabric and begin quilting feathers.  I love the way Natasha so effortlessly creates new branches wherever it seems appropriate, and keeps on going.  I definitely haven't mastered the branching off part yet!  I'm delighted to have this new (to me) method of quilting feathers to add to my arsenal of designs learned during the FMQ Challenge, and will keep practicing this technique every chance I get!  A direct link to Natasha's blog post containing the videos can be found here.

I'll be linking up with SewCalGal's Free Motion Quilting Linky Party, and hope you will head on over there and see what others have created using the tutorials provided by so many wonderful and generous quilting experts!   And, it's not too late to check out these great tutorials for yourself if you didn't have a chance to participate last year.  Nearly all of the tutorials are still available for use and you can find them by clicking on the 2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge tab on SewCalGal's blog,  scrolling down to the chart containing the entire year's list of monthly tutorials, and then clicking on a highlighted month's link to be directed to that month's tutorial. 

Here's to a new year of quilting adventures!

Last of the grandson quilts ... for this year!

Well, it's the last day of 2012, and here is the last finish for the year.  This quilt, completed in late November, was made for our oldest grandson, now nearly 12 years old.  His was the most difficult thematically to design and choose fabrics.  There are precious few kid fabrics for a 'tween' and I never did find a single Lacrosse fabric, which is the only sport he is playing or interested in at the moment.  He does have a keen interest in art and architecture, so I decided on this pattern from the Spring/Summer 2011 edition of Quilt Sampler magazine since it reminded me of building blocks.  I tried to keep the fabric selection fairly geometric and modern, and fairly bright.

The photos are far from ideal, taken during our dreary and rainy late fall days.  These few captured the colors as best I could.

This is the first quilt I've ever free motion quilted with an overall stippling design throughout.  It seemed best for this one what with the busy patterns contained in the blocks.  I used the same variegated Aurifil 50 wt. thread on the top throughout, with a dark slate gray Aurifil in the bobbin.

The back is an overall bright print on black featuring all things New York State related since that is where he lives.

The outdoor shots were taken during a cold drizzle.   We didn't have any sunny days between the time I finished and when the quilt needed to be washed, wrapped up and mailed after Thanksgiving.

So, that's a wrap for this year!  This was a most productive year in my quilting life: for the first time ever, I was able to complete 9 quilts, plus each of the monthly tutorials presented in SewCalGal's 2012 FMQ Challenge.  With luck, perhaps 2013 will be as productive - I hope so!

Wishing you all a most blessed and joyful New Year!

Because every boy needs the cover of a superhero sometimes ...

Next up in my parade of grandchildren's quilts is this one for a six-year-old aspiring superhero!  Super-fun to make, I only wish I'd been able to locate a greater variety of superhero fabrics at the time.    This one was completed after our rainy fall season had begun, here it is draped over towels on our wet deck rail.

The August FMQ Challenge tutorial by Wendy Sheppard was a little overall motif she called Jester's Hat, and it was absolutely perfect for this quilt!  The Jesters appear in each of the theme blocks as well as the dark blue border.  This was my first experiment using a variegated thread for quilting, and I think it worked well against the dark background.

I loved the way the gold/yellow background fabric popped with the outline quilting:

A bit of the back:

Quilted with Aurifil 50 wt. for both top and bobbin, with a low loft poly batting.  This quilt was totally fun to make, and was yet another great practice piece for the FMQ skills we learned during SewCalGal's FMQ Challenge this year!

Another girl's fairy quilt

This was the second flower fairy quilt completed this year, made for our youngest granddaughter, now nearly two years old.  Her dad was the inspiration for these quilts, when he called to say their expected baby would be a girl, he added "she's going to need a fairy quilt."   I had just seen some of Michael Miller's gorgeous flower fairy panels and fairy frost fabrics and was only too happy to oblige!

This one, completed in March, provided a perfect opportunity to practice the first three months' tutorials from SewCalGal's FMQ Challenge, with Frances Moore's leaf motif, Ann Fahl's meandering loops and flowers, and multitudes of feathers both within the borders and the panel, courtesy of Diane Gaudynski's excellent tutorial.   A few detail photos:

 

I especially liked this sparkly, fun polka dot fabric used in the top and bottom panels, providing a bit of glittery accent, since the fairy frost fabric was only used sparsely in this quilt.  The soft peachy-pink border fabric was found at a local yard sale, as were the large central panel and the smaller side panels - lucky finds!

This was much fun to make and to quilt, especially the feather practice!  Quilting for both fairy quilts was accomplished on my 1942 Singer 15-91 machine, using Aurifil 50 wt in both top and bobbin, with the exception of the small fairy panels shown above, for which I experimented with YLI silk 100 wt. thread.

I arose this morning in time to see a beautiful pale orange full moon setting in the western sky.  It appears we're about to have several days' reprieve from the seemingly endless rain and fog this month.  In a day or two the garden catalogs will begin arriving in the mail, and we can begin seeing the daylight hours increasing once again!   The robins will be back in a week or two to eat all the pyracantha berries next to the front deck.  Can spring be far behind?

Shea's Quilt

I hope everyone enjoyed a Christmas holiday blessed with the cozy warmth of family and friends nearby.  We spent a quiet day at home, much time on the phone with family and friends in other parts of the country.   My foot is recovering well from the surgery last week, though I won't be able to put weight on it for at least a couple more weeks.  The walker is my new constant companion, but preferable to crutches for sure!  We managed to cook our favorite Polish holiday dinner, simple country fare of golabke with our favorite mushroom sauce and some of the pierogi my sister and I made a couple weeks ago.  My sister also gifted us with a homemade cherry pie before leaving for sunny (she hoped) California for the holidays, so that rounded out our holiday feast.

Now that the gifts have all been opened, I can share more of my 2012 quilt finishes.  Here is the first quilt completed after signing up for SewCalGal's FMQ Challenge.  Our January tutorial by Frances Moore featured a great leaf design which seemed perfect for this little girl's Flower Fairy quilt.  The leaf design covers most of the quilt, with some very primitive border quilting designs added in.  This was my third-ever FMQ'd finish!   I neglected to record the final measurements but it is around 60 x 70 inches.   It should be a perfect size for a toddler bed or a small twin size and was made for our oldest granddaughter, now 3 1/2 years old.  

The colors are a bit washed out in the photos taken outdoors last June, and are a bit more true here in these close-ups.

Overall I was very happy with the way this turned out, and although all of the many quilting errors were glaringly apparent while under the needle, now nearly a year later I don't remember any of them LOL!

Over the next week or two I'll share the other five quilts completed during the year, one for each of our grandchildren.   

No FMQ practice this week as I've decided to spend my recuperation time attempting to complete the hand quilting on a queen size quilt that was started nearly 16 years ago!  At this point it's probably the oldest UFO still awaiting a finish, now that the 30-year-old Christmas ornament has reached its new home!

Until next time, hope your quilting holidays are full of joy!

FMQ Challenge Wrap-up

What a year this has been!  It may be the first year in more than I care to remember that I actually completed my major New Year's Resolutions!  First and foremost was the Free Motion Quilting Challenge sponsored by SewCalGal, who has become a dear blogging friend to so many would-be quilters, including myself.  A huge Thank You! to SewCalGal for pulling together some of the most outstanding free motion quilters to provide a series of fantastic tutorials all designed to help us on our journey to become more proficient quilters.  What fun to see the progress everyone has made as we post a summary show-and-tell of our monthly samplers completed this year.

Here, then are the samples I've completed to date.  I still plan to do the last two bonus tutorials in the near future, most likely after the first of the year.  Nice to have a couple more to look forward to!

Our January tutorial was presented by Frances Moore who demonstrated a leaf design filler that I used on several quilts this year:

February featured feathers, with an outstanding tutorial and subsequent blog posts with additional photos and advice,  provided by Diane Gaudynski. 

March's tutorial was provided by Ann Fahl, who taught loopy free-form designs alternating with a simple five-petal flower motif.  My photo for March shows elements of each of the first three month's of tutorials - and LOTS of feather practice!

In April, Don Linn taught us a great method for transferring a design to your fabric for quilting, easier than cutting a stencil!

Leah Day brought us stippling variations in May.

June brought another favorite tutorial for me, presented by Cindy Needham, who taught us her divide-and-conquer method for quilting in large open spaces.  More feather practice and other new design motifs!

In July, Angela Walters brought us a tiling design, very adaptable to large or irregular areas.  Any number of filler designs can be used within the tiles.  

Wendy Sheppard provided our August tutorial:  a deceptively simple Jesters Hat motif that proved to be fairly difficult to move evenly across a large area!  Still, that design is intriguing and such a useful overall quilt design!  I ended up using this design on a twin size quilt completed in September.

Paula Reid provided us with practice in quilting along lines during September, with this great stencil pattern.  

In October, Teri Lucas challenged us to quilt our name in one area of our sample, then outline it and go on from there to create an overall quilt picture.  She also showed us a great shell design.

November's Challenge was to practice quilting rows of spirals or swirls in a variety of sizes.  Sarah Vedeler provided an excellent tutorial on creating a variety of swirl designs.

Our final monthly tutorial for December was all about design principles for creating interesting and eye-catching borders.  Patsy Thompson, so well known for her beautiful freestyle feather designs, provided an excellent tutorial and video demonstration.

We were also treated to bonus tutorials!  The first was provided by Linda Moran, who demonstrated free style quilting following patterns on gorgeous hand-marbled fabrics.  In this sample I used the hand marbled fabric to frame a piece of my grandson's art work that had been printed on commercial fabric for a school fundraiser.

Our second bonus tutorial, provided by Susan Brubaker Knapp, focused on finding design inspiration from things in our own environment.  We worked from macro photos we had shot of plants, architectural elements, etc.  This one is a sampling of hens-and-chicks.

Our final two bonus tutorials were presented by Diane Loomis and Teri Lucas.  I'm looking forward to getting these underway soon!

A huge thank you to each and every one of our tutorial experts who so generously gave of their time and quilting expertise to provide these invaluable lessons and insights; and to those who also took the time to answer individual questions about technique and other quilting-related issues with machines, tension, threads, etc.  And again, to SewCalGal, who made all this possible!